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FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 

REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,  D.  D, 

BEQUEATHED    BY   HIM   TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


/V7 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


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Christian  l^mnolog 

"V 


A  SERMON 


PREACHED   IN  THE  BRICK  CHURCH,   NEW 
YORK,   DECEMBER   12,  1869, 


BY 

REV.  JAMES   O.  MURRAY,   D.  D., 

ASSOCIATE    PASTOR. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST  OF  THE  SESSION. 


NEW    YORK: 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER    AND    COMPANY. 

1870. 


The  occasion  of  this  discourse  was  the  introduction  of  "  The  Sac- 
rifice of  Praise,"  a  Hymn-book  "  designed  for  Public  Worship  and 
Private  Devotion,"  compiled  by  a  Committee  of  the  Session,  of  which 
the  author  was  chairman. 


RIVERSIDE,    CAMBRIDGE! 
PRINTED   BY   H.    O.    HOUGHTON   AND  COMPANY. 


CHRISTIAN    HYMNOLOGY. 


'•  And  when  they  had  sung  an  hymn,  they  went  out  into  the  Mount  of 
Olives."    Matthew  xxvi.  30. 

•And  be  not  drunk  with  wine,  wherein  is   excess;  but  be  filled 
with   the  Spirit ;  speaking  to  yourselves  in  psalms   and  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making  melody  in  your  heart  to  the  Lord." 
ions  v.  iS,  19. 

HP  HE  first  of  these  texts  shows  us  one  of 
-**  the  many  ways  in  which  Jesus  used  his 
voice  to  the  glory  of  God.  He  taught  of 
God,  He  prayed  to  God,  He  sang  the  praise 
of  God.  We  know  what  He  and  his  disciples 
sang  together  in  that  upper  room.  It  was  the 
Hallel,  or  hallelujah  psalms  (n 3-1 1 8),  used  at 
the  Jewish  Passover.  But  it  is  the  fact  that  He 
sang  even  more  than  what  He  sang,  which  in- 
terests the  Christian  mind  and  heart.  For  the 
singing  in  which  He  took  part,  was  thus  directly 
associated  with  a  newly  established  ordinance 
of  the  Christian  Church.  It  belonged  to  the 
new  dispensation.  Jesus  by  it  gave  to  his 
church  an  example  of  worship  in  song. 

The  second  of  these  texts  shows  us  that 
the  example  of  Christ  had  been  followed ;  that 
the  early  Christians  craved  and  used  devotional 
singing  in  their  social  and  public  assemblies; 
that  this  had  become  of  prominence  enough 


4  Christian  Hymnology. 

to  be  made  a  matter  of  apostolic  teaching.  The 
fundamental  principles  of  sacred  song  are 
therein  set  forth,  namely,  that  sacred  music  is 
of  any  worth  in  the  sight  of  God  and  for  the 
soul  of  man,  just  in  so  far  as  it  comes  from 
hearts  filled  with  the  Spirit :  "  Be  filled  with 
the  Spirit,  speaking  to  yourselves  in  psalms  and 
hymns  and  spiritual  songs."  Again,  that  this 
singing  should  be  something  in  common  and 
not  done  by  proxy.  "Speaking  to  one  another" 
conveys  more  exactly  the  meaning  of  the 
apostle  than  "  speaking  to  yourselves."  It  de- 
notes a  congregational  singing  as  the  apostolic 
model  for  church  music.  Again,  that  vocal 
melody,  artistic  excellence,  the  science  of  mu- 
sic, should  be  valued  only  as  they  tend  to  beget 
a  melody  of  heart  to  the  Lord.  This  psal- 
mody of  the  inward  heart  is  the  first  aim  of  the 
service  of  song  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 

We  are  moreover  taught  by  this  passage 
that  there  were  already  found  in  the  church 
and  used  by  the  disciples,  Christian  hymns. 
It  is  hardly  possible  to  discriminate  very  sharply 
and  say  wherein  the  psalms,  hymns,  and  spirit- 
ual songs  differed  each  from  the  others.  But 
it  is  certainly  to  be  inferred  from  this  teaching 
of  St.  Paul,  that  there  was  a  class  of  uninspired 
Christian  hymns  or  spiritual  songs,  sanctioned 
by  apostolic  authority,  which  were  entirely  dif- 
ferent   from  the  ancient  psalms.      Whatever 


New  Interest  in  its  Study.  5 

they  were,  they  mark  and  constitute  the  begin- 
ning of  a  distinctively  Christian  hymnology. 
This  is  a  subject,  which  of  late  years  has  so 
extensively  and  intensively  engaged  the  Chris- 
tian mind,  as  to  demand  for  it  some  considera- 
tion by  professed  religious  teachers.  Never 
before  in  the  history  of  the  church,  have  hymns 
been  so  widely  studied,  so  generally  read,  so 
deeply  loved.  A  new  mission,  or  at  least  a 
new  enlargement  of  power,  seems  to  have  been 
given  them  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  They  are 
fulfilling  their  sweet  and  gentle,  but  powerful 
offices  of  quickening  and  comfort  in  thousands 
of  hearts,  that  a  few  years  since  knew7  little  of 
what  rich  stores  of  helpfulness  and  solace  were 
laid  up  in  them.  It  would  be  difficult  to  spec- 
ify any  theme  more  directly  within  the  province 
of  the  pulpit,  or  one  in  which  timely  words 
needed  more  to  be  spoken. 

Christian  hymnology  is  not  an  independent 
and  isolated  product  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Like  most  of  the  institutions  of  that  church,  it 
is  a  growth  out  of  a  similar  growth  in  the  old 
dispensation.  It  has  its  roots  in  the  inspired 
psalmody  of  the  Jewish  Church.  Both  are  a 
development.  Both  grew  from  small  begin- 
nings. The  parallel  between  these  growths 
is  close  and  instructive. 

The  traces  of  sacred  music  in  primitive  wor- 
ship are  very  scanty.     When  we  have  noticed 


6  Christian  Hytmiology. 

the  invention  of  musical  instruments  by  Jubal,1 
the  father  of  all  such  as  handle  the  harp  and 
the  organ,  and  the  defeated  purpose  of  Laban,2 
to  send  Jacob  away  "  with  mirth  and  with 
songs,  with  tabret  and  with  harp,"  we  have 
exhausted  all  the  information  the  Bible  gives 
us  as  to  the  original  introduction  and  use  of 
music.  It  is  probable,  though  by  no  means 
certain,  that  the  music  of  the  period  was  in 
some  way  associated  with  religion.  But  the 
first  distinct  assurance  we  have  of  this,  is  when 
on  the  banks  of  the  Red  Sea,  Moses  and  the 
children  of  Israel  sang  their  triumphal  song. 
This  had  a  decidedly  religious  character,  and 
Hebrew  psalmody  may  be  traced  to  this  as 
almost  to  its  very  source.  The  song  of  Deb- 
orah and  Barak  is  metrical  in  its  structure, 
and  was  without  doubt  intended  to  be  sung. 
But  we  search  in  vain  the  books  of  Moses  to 
find  any  clear  trace  of  the  incorporation  of 
sacred  music  into  his  ritual  of  worship.  In  the 
first  institution  and  observance  of  public  wor- 
ship, everything  was  subordinate  to  the  sacri- 
ficial idea.  It  was  needful  to  have  the  people 
thoroughly  rooted  and  grounded  in  this,  and 
that  nothing  should  be  introduced  which  should 
in  any  way  divert  their  attention  from  it. 

But  when  established  in  Canaan,  and  brought 
forward   in   their  religious  education  so  as  to 

1  Genesis  iv.  21.  2  Ibid.  xxxi.  27. 


Hymnology  a  Growth.  7 

need  and  to  demand  a  temple-worship,  they 
needed  and  demanded  a  service  of  song:  The 
popular  heart  was  prepared  for  the  strains 
of  the  psalmist,  when  God  had  prepared  the 
Psalmist  to  compose  them.  The  hour  had 
come  and  the  man,  —  both  by  appointment  of 
God.1  The  individual  felt  the  need  of  holy  song 
in  which  to  express  his  religious  emotions  ; 
these  found  voice  in  the  Psalms  of  David. 
The  congregation  felt  the  need  of  some  service 
of  song  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  that  ser- 
vice was  provided  for  in  the  psalms  which  the 
sons  of  Korah  and  the  sons  of  Asaph  chanted 
to  the  accompaniment  of  psalteries  and  harps. 

Yet  what  demands  our  notice  especially,  is 
that  all  this  worship  of  God  in  song,  in  psalms 
composed  expressly  for  it,  in  a  temple-worship 
which  elaborately  provided  for  it,  was  the  slow 
growth  of  centuries.  The  earliest  worship  of 
God  on  earth  was  by  sacrifice  without  song. 
Then  came  song  on  special  eminent  occasions, 
such  as  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  Pharaoh 
and  his  hosts.  It  may  be  true,  —  though  no 
trace  of  this  appears  in  the  ritual  of  Moses,  — 
that  the  "  Levites  all  along  practiced  music,  and 
that  some  musical  service  was  part  of  the  wor- 
ship of  the  Tabernacle."2  The  growth  of  the 
institution  of  sacrifices,  from  the  first  offered  by 

1  See  2  Chron.  xxix.  25. 

-  See  article  on  "  Music"  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 


8  Christian  Hymnology. 

Adam  to  that  finished  system  established  by 
Moses,"  marks  a  development  in  time  and  in 
gradation,  —  exactly  like  the  development  of 
holy  song.  What  a  mighty  difference  every 
way,  between  the  songs  of  Miriam  and  Debo- 
rah, and  the  psalms  used  in  the  temple-worship ! 
Christian  hymnology,  however,  has  had  a  similar 
development.  It  did  not  spring  into  being  at 
once  and  completely.  Christianity  was  indeed 
born  amid  the  songs  of  Mary,  of  Elizabeth,  of 
Simeon,  and  of  the  heavenly  host.  That  early 
spirit  of  Christian  song  had  a  further  expan- 
sion in  the  apostolic  age.  In  the  Epistles,  —  if 
we  may  trust  the  careful  and  learned  judgment 
of  church  historians  like  Dr.  Schaff,  —  appear 
fragments  of  primitive  Christian  songs,  which 
by  their  insertion  bear  the  sanction  and  seal 
of  inspiration  itself.  Examples  are  found  in 
i  Tim.  iii.  16,  —  that  terse  delineation  of  the 
great  mystery  of  godliness  which  even  in  the 
English  version  seems  to  have  a  rhythmical 
movement  in  it ;  and  in  2  Timothy  ii.  11,  where 
the  Greek  particle  indicates  a  quotation,  and 
the  parallelisms  a  poetical  quotation.  Grotius 
finds,  in  Acts  iv.  24-30,  the  substance  of  a 
hymn  to  Christ,  the  first  Christian  song.  The 
Apocalypse  is  full  of  doxologies  and  antiphonal 
songs.  The  psalmody  of  the  Old  Testament 
was  beyond  all  doubt  the  first  used  by  the 
apostolic    church.      But   not   exclusively,    for 


/;/  the    First  Centuries.  9 

there  grew  up  with  it  a  distinctively  Christian 
hymnology.  Tertullian,  Eusebius,  Origen,  all 
mention  the  existence  and  use  of  these  hymns 
to  Christ.  Eusebius  (a.  d.  314)  quotes  from 
an  earlier  historian  when  he  says,  "  How  many 
songs  and  odes  of  the  brethren  there  are,  writ- 
ten from  the  beginning  by  believers,  which 
offer  praise  to  Christ  as  the  Word  of  God, 
ascribing  divinity  to  Him."1  The  quotation 
shows  that  Christian  hymns  had  then  been 
committed  to  writing  in  great  numbers.  Dr. 
Coleman's  remark  on  this  passage  is  striking 
and  true,  "  We  here  have  evidence  of  the  exist- 
ence of  a  Christian  hymn-book  from  the  be- 
ginning." 2 

The  earliest  hymnology  is  of  course  that  of 
the  Oriental  Church.  So  mightily  did  the  spirit 
of  Christian  song  brood  over  the  souls  of  the 
Oriental  Christians,  that  we  are  told  that  if  all 
the  Greek  Church  poetry  were  put  together 
it  would  make  four  thousand  quarto  pages 
closely  printed  in  double  columns.3  Most  of 
it  has  no  permanent  value.  But  we  owe  to 
the  Greek  Church  of  the  third,  or  perhaps 
the  second  century,  the  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis," 
known  originally  as  the  Morning  Song  in  the 
Apostolical  Constitutions ;  and  also  the  "  Te 
Deum "    in   an  earlier    form,  which    Ambrose 

1  Eusebius'  Ecclesiastical  History,  lib.  v.  xxviii. 

2  Coleman's  Ancient  Christian: 

8  J.  M.  Neale  quoted  in  Schaff's  History  of  the  Church,  vol.  III.  p. 
583. 


io  Christian  Hymnology. 

afterwards  expanded  and  enriched.  And  such 
hymns  as  that  of  Anatolius,  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople (t458),  on  Christ  stilling  the  tempest, 
Neale's  fine  translation  of  which,  beginning,  — 

"  Fierce  was  the  wild  billow,"  — 

is  found  in  the  "Sacrifice  of  Praise,"  No.  149, 
show  us  how  in  those  primitive  ages  the  high- 
est lyrical  excellence  was  sometimes  joined  to 
the  profoundest  doctrinal  statements.  The 
extent  of  the  Greek  hymnology  is  all  the  more 
remarkable  when  it  is  remembered  that  in  the 
outset  the  Greek  Church  adhered  rigorously, 
almost  exclusively,  to  the  Psalms  of  David ; 
and  did  not,  until  the  fifth  century,  lose  its  prej- 
udices against  uninspired  poetry  in  worship. 

Latin  hymnology  flourished  from  the  fourth 
to  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  said,  by  those 
who  have  made  it  their  study,  to  be  smaller  in 
compass  than  the  Greek,  but  richer  in  simplic- 
ity, vigor,  and  truth.  As  containing  "  a  more 
subjective  appropriation  and  experience  of  sal- 
vation," and  as  being  an  accented  and  rhymed 
poetry,  it  "  forms  the  transition  to  the  Evangel- 
ical Hymn."  Ambrose  and  Bernard  are  the 
links  which  bind  in  the  unity  of  sacred  song, 
Gregory  Nazianzen  and  Anatolius,  to  PaulEber 
and  Martin  Luther.  Much  of  it,  especially 
the  later,  is  vitiated  with  idolatrous  homage  to 
Mary.  But  much  of  it,  in  translations  which 
catch  with  wonderful  aptness  the  meaning  and 


Early  Latin  Hymns.  1 1 

flavor  of  the  original,  can  express  for  us  the 
very  truest  and  deepest  worship  of  all  believing 
hearts.  The  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis  "  is  known  to 
us  by  its  Latin  reproduction.  The  "  Te  Deum," 
the  "  briorht  consummate  flower "  of  all  the 
hymns  which  we  owe  to  Ambrose,  Bishop  of 
Milan,  is  the  most  magnificent  of  uninspired 
hymns.  It  stands  nearest  the  inspired  psalms 
for  sublimity  and  devotion.  "  Jerusalem,  my 
Happy  Home,"  is  only  a  transfusion  of  an  an- 
cient Latin  hymn.  "  Jesus  the  very  thought  of 
Thee,"1  "Jesus  thou  joy  of  loving  hearts,"2 
hymns  of  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  styled  by 
Luther  "  the  best  monk  that  ever  lived,"  are 
somewhat  recent  translations  which  the  Chris- 
tian heart  has  taken  already  to  its  warmest  af- 
fections. u  O  Bread  to  pilgrims  given," 3  a 
sacramental  hymn  by  Aquinas,  is  a  translation 
of  a  Latin  hymn  by  one  of  our  own  choicest 
hymn-writers,  Dr.  Ray  Palmer,  and  is  full  of 
sacramental  joy  and  richness.  In  regard  to  these, 
and  such  as  these,  it  has  been  most  truthfully 
and  beautifully  said,4  "  the  old  hymns  of  the 
Church  have  come  back  to  us  in  their  true  dig- 
nity and  power  as  representations  of  a  religious 
life  which  the  Spirit  of  God  never  suffered  whol- 
ly to  die  out.  They  are  the  hymns  of  the  early 
sanctuary  sung  by  Christians  whose  fathers  had 

1  Sacrifice  of  Praise,  No.  155.  -  Ibid.  No.  156. 

8  Ibid.  Xo.  513.  4  Bib.  Sacra,  vol.  xvi.  p,  214. 


12  Christian  Hymnology. 

joined  with  the  Apostles  in  psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs.  They  are  the  hymns  of  the 
early  morning  prayer-meeting,  in  which  the 
heathen  overheard  Christians  singing  before 
daylight  in  praise  of  Christ  as  God.  They 
are  the  hymns  of  the  early  Christian  homes, 
which  were  sung  at  marriage-feasts,  and  over 
the  cradles  of  children,  and  at  the  morning  and 
evening  fireside.  They  are  the  hymns  of  the 
Eucharist  and  of  Baptism  in  which  the  spir- 
it of  primitive  consecration  breathed  the  fra- 
grance of  its  piety.  They  are  the  early  pastoral 
hymns  of  the  Church,  which  'you  could  not 
go  into  the  country  without  hearing,'  says 
Jerome,  '  from  the  ploughman,  the  mower,  and 
the  vine-dresser.'  ....  They  are  some  of  them 
older  than  any  living  language,  yet  to-day  they 
speak  the  life  of  Christian  hearts  as  freshly  as 
when  they  were  first  written."  It  is  high  time 
that  such  hymns  were  incorporated  with  our 
English  hymnology.  The  Church  has  no  right 
to  leave  them  out  of  her  manuals  of  song,  or 
to  leave  them  unsung  when  inserted.  Hymns 
like  the  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis  "  and  the  "  Te 
Deum,"  are  the  heritage  of  the  Church  Uni- 
versal, and  should  be  its  song. 

Scarcely  less  is  the  Reformation  to  be  noted 
for  its  revival  of  the  spirit  of  sacred  song  than 
for  its  revival  of  pure  doctrine.  Yet  as  there 
were  "  Reformers  before  the  Reformation,"  so 


Times  of  Luther  and  Calvin.  13 

there  were  hymn-writers  among  the  Albigenses 
and  the  Bohemian  brethren.  "  The  current 
of  Continental  Protestantism  was  early  and 
strongly  set  in  the  channel  of  an  original  hym- 
nology,  ....  long  before  English  hymnology 
as  distinct  from  psalmody  was  in  existence."  1 
The  heart  of  the  awakened  Church  called  for 
hymns, as  well  as  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular,  and 
Luther  gave  them  both.  The  confessions  and 
catechisms  conveyed  true  doctrine  into  the  un- 
derstandings, but  the  hymns  of  Luther  and  his 
compeers  and  successors  sung  it  into  the  hearts 
of  the  people.  At  first  this  took  the  form  ot 
a  versified  psalmody,  at  least  with  Calvin,  but 
soon  the  distinctively  Christian  hymn  appeared, 
claimed  and  took  its  place  in  the  service  of 
song.  Calvin  himself  wrote  a  hymn,  which 
has  just  appeared  in  English  dress.2  From 
the  historian  of  English  poetry  we  learn,  that 
"  France  and  Germany  were  instantly  infatu- 
ated with  a  love  of  psalm-singing The 

energetic  hymns  of  Geneva  exhilarated  the 
convivial  assemblies  -of  the  Calvinists,  were 
commonly  heard  in  the  streets,  and  accompa- 
nied the  labors  of  the  artificer."  The  hymnolog- 
ical  studies  of  the  last  few  years  have  revealed 
the  extent  and  the  evangelical  richness  of  the 
German  hymnology.  "  Hymns  from  the  Land 
of  Luther,"  is  a  household    book  with  many. 

1  Bid.  Sacra,  vol.  xvi.  p.  212.  2  Schaff ' s  Christian  Soug. 


14  Christian  Hymnology, 

Gerhardt,  Schmocke,  Angelus,  Laurenti,  are 
names  which  begin  to  fall  on  our  ears  like  those 
of  Watts,  and  Wesley,  and  Doddridge. 

The  period  of  English  hymnology  ushered 
in  by  Watts,  continued  by  Doddridge  and  the 
Wesleys,  is  in  some  respects  more  marked  than 
any  in  the  history  of  Christian  song.  The 
Christian  hymn  had  to  fight  its  way  to  recogni 
tion,  and  it  was  a  "  good  fight  of  faith."  It  was 
opposed  by  the  force  of  tradition,  prejudice 
and  very  honest,  very  strong,  very  strange  con- 
victions. Dr.  Watts  was  by  the  very  nature  of 
his  position  compelled  to  be  a  "  bold  and  deter- 
mined innovator."  Up  to  his  time  nothing  but 
versions  of  the  Psalms  —  the  standard  of  perfec- 
tion in  which  was  first,  literal  and  prosaic  adher- 
ence to  the  original ;  and  secondly,  rhyme  or  its 
caricature,  —  had  any  acknowledged  right  to  a 
place  in  worship.  We  can  scarcely  conceive 
now,  how  these  words  from  his  preface  to  his 
first  book  of  psalms  and  hymns,  must  have 
startled  many  good  people  in  his  time  :  "  I  am 
bold  to  maintain  the  great  principle  on  which 
my  present  work  is  founded,  and  that  is,  that  if 
the  brightest  genius  on  earth,  or  an  angel  from 
heaven,  should  translate  David,  and  keep  close 
to  the  sense  and  style  of  the  inspired  author, 
we  should  obtain  thereby  a  bright  or  heavenly 
copy  of  the  devotion  of  the  Jewish  king,  but 
it  could  never  make  the  fittest  psalm-book  for  a 


Times  of  Watts  and  Wesley.  15 

Christian  people."  He  went  beyond  this  even, 
and  asserted  the  right  of  a  Christian  hymn, 
founded  on  any  portion  of  inspired  truth,  to  take 
its  place  in  the  service  of  song.  The  ancient 
Church  had  acknowledged  it;  the  churches  of 
the  Reformation  had  acknowledged  it.  Watts 
gained  the  right  for  his  psalms  and  hymns,  and 
so  for  all,  by  writing  such  as  were  so  superior 
that  they  compelled  the  recognition.  The  ex- 
cellence of  our  modern  hymn-books  may  be 
quickly  tested  by  ascertaining  what  proportion 
of  their  selections  are  from  Watts.  He  un- 
loosed the  spirit  of  Christian  song  which 
soared  aloft  and  has  been  brooding  over  choice 
souls  ever  since.  To  Dr.  Watts  we  are  in- 
debted for  Doddridge,  Toplady,  the  Wesleys, 
Cowper,  Newton,  Anne  Steele,  Bishop  Heber, 
Lyte,  Montgomery.  He  created  the  hym- 
nology  to  which  they  have  made  such  rich  ad- 
ditions. That  hymnology  has  already  reached 
a  large  and  symmetrical  growth,  but  the  more 
recent  additions  to  it  of  such  hymns  as  that  of 
Charlotte  Elliott,  — 

"  Just  as  I  am  ;"  1 

that  of  Mrs.  Sarah  F.  Adams,  — 

"  Nearer  my  God  to  thee  ;  "  2 

that  of  Ray  Palmer,  — 

"  My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee  ;  "3 
1  Sacrifice  of  Praise,  No.  350.        a  Ibid.  No.  419.        3  Ibid.  No.  139. 


1 6  Christian  Hymnology. 

show  us  that  an  "  untold  affluence  of  lyric 
thought  yet  lies  in  the  Word  of  God,  unut- 
tered  in  lyric  verse."  The  development  of 
our  Christian  hymnology  is  perhaps  complete 
so  far  as  its  main  body  is  concerned.  But  it 
will  have  additions,  and  the  church  needs  these 
as   they  come. 

Here,  then,  we  have  two  remarkable  histor- 
ical developments,  the  one  resulting  and  ter- 
minating in  an  inspired  psalmody,  the  other 
resulting,  but  not  yet  terminated,  in  an  unin- 
spired Christian  hymnology.  Both  together 
make  up  the  praise  of  God  in  its  complete- 
ness. The  grand  and  ineffaceable  distinction 
between  them  is,  that  one  is  inspired  and  the 
other  is  uninspired.  But  though  uninspired, 
the  Christian  hymn  has  had  the  seal  of  divine 
approval  put  upon  it,  in  its  manifest  agency 
in  producing  a  riper  and  more  happy  Chris- 
tian life.  Both  are  needed,  in  the  complete 
service  of  song,  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
"  Psalms  and  hymns "  the  Church  of  Christ 
needs  and  should  have,  the  psalm  just  as  it 
was  composed,  sung  to  a  chant,  the  hymn  or 
psalm-version  sung  to  goodly  church  tunes. 
No  church  of  Christ  can  wisely  give  up  the 
chanting  of  psalms.  Only  so  can  the  Chris- 
tian soul  sing  the  praises  of  God  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  framed  them,  and  as  such  they 
should  be  sung  as  well  as   read.     Jesus   must 


Chants.  1 7 

have  used  a  chanted  psalmody,  when  with  his 
disciples  he  sang  the  Hallel  around  the  first 
communion  table.  Good  men,  —  men  to  whom 
the  whole  church  looks  up  with  confidence  and 
love ;  men  like  the  late  Dr.  James  W.  Alexan- 
der of  this  city  —  have  taken  high  and  strong 
ground  in  favor  of  their  use.1  The  General 
Assembly  in  its  Hymnal  has  acceded  to-  this 
view.  It  has  sent  forth  to  the  churches  for 
their  use  an  inspired  psalmody  and  an  unin- 
spired hymnology;  the  one  to  be  used  in 
chants,  the  other  in  tunes,  both  together  mak- 
ing up  the  completeness  of  the  service  of  song 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord.  There  is  no  more 
reason  why  a  congregation  should  not  learn 
simple  chants,— and  the  excellence  of  all  church 
music  lies  in  a  pure  and  strong  simplicity, — 
than  tunes  like  "  Duke  Street "  and  "  Mear." 
The  union  of  the  two  in  the  worship  of  God 
in  song  would  seem  likely  to  insure  the  high- 
est spiritual  power.  The  chant  is  stately  and 
majestic.  The  hymn  is  free  and  flowing.  The 
chanted  psalm  or  other  Holy  Scripture  moves 
the  soul  to  adoration.  The  hymn,  sung  in  a 
more  familiar  way,  moves  the  soul  to  heavenly 
communion.  The  one  is  more  objective  ;  calls 
out  the  devout  affections,  by  presenting  in  in- 

1  "There  can  be  conceived  no  mode  of  singing  God's  praise  more 
simple,  grave,  impressive,  and  truly  Protestant  than  the  chanting  of 
the  very  words  of  Scripture  by  all  the  voices  of  a  congregation."  — 
Scuramcntal  Discourses,  p.  94- 

2 


1 8  Christian  Hymnology. 

spired  poetry  Divine  glories  to  the  view  of  the 
soul.  The  other  is  more  subjective,  and  has 
to  do  with  the  soul's  inner  wants,  desires,  as- 
pirations. If  my  soul  has  been  lifted  up  toward 
God  on  the  sublime  strains  of  a  Venite  or  Ju- 
bilate, and  with  David  I  have  rapturously  sung. 
"  O  come,  let  us  sing  unto  the  Lord,"  "  O  be 
joyful  in  God  all  ye  lands,"  and  my  soul  through 
the  touch  of  God's  Spirit  has  caught  and 
breathed  out  in  turn  something  of  David's 
profound  exulting  adoration,  I  shall  be  more 
deeply  moved  when  in  simpler  strains  and 
more  inward  experiences  and  more  directly  ex- 
pressed human  wants  and  aspirations,  I  sing 
the  hymn  of  Wesley,  "Jesus  lover  of  my  soul," 
or  Mrs.  Adams's  "  Nearer  my  God  to  Thee." 

Without  Christian  hymnology  all  distinctively 
Christian  elements  disappear  from  the  worship 
of  holy  song.  "  Though  there  are  many  gone 
before  me,"  said  Dr.  Watts  in  his  preface  to 
his  version  of  the  Psalms ;  "  who  have  taught 
the  Hebrew  Psalmist  to  speak  English,  yet  I 
think  I  may  assume  the  pleasure  of  being  the 
first  who  hath  brought  down  the  royal  author 
into  the  common  affairs  of  the  Christian  life, 
and  led  the  Psalmist  of  Israel  into  the  Church 
of  Christ  without  anything  of  the  Jew  about 
him."  It  needs  this  union  of  inspired  psal- 
mody and  Christian  hymnology  to  have  the  New 
Testament  appear  at  all  in  the  service  of  song 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 


Inspired  Truth  its  Source,  19 

After  this  survey  of  the  historical  growth  of 
Christian  hymnology,  we  are  prepared  to  see 
what  are  the  characteristics  of  a  true  hymn. 

First  of  all  it  must  have  its  source  in  in- 
spired truth. 

It  is  a  very  curious  historical  fact  that  it  was 
a  favorite  project  with  some  of  the  early  Eng- 
lish psalmists,  that  all  Scripture  should  be 
versified  and  sung.  The  first  fourteen  chapters 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  were  thus  versified 
and  actually  sung  in  the  royal  chapel  of  Ed- 
ward VI.  The  books  of  Genesis  and  Kings 
were  "  done  "  into  metre.  Yet  the  principle  was 
a  right  one,  that  the  hymn  should  have  its 
source  in  inspired  truth.  Not  to  Nature,  not 
to  human  ethics,  but  to  the  Word  of  God, 
Christian  hymn-writers  must  turn.  The  idea  of 
the  hymn  must  square  with  divine  truth  as  its 
rule  of  faith.  The  spirit  of  the  hymn  —  its 
aroma,  its  indescribable  tone — must  come  from 
the  Word  of  God.  The  power  of  our  best 
hymns  is  all  grounded  in  their  inspired  theology. 
Watts,  the  great  leader  in  the  grand  swelling 
chorus  of  sacred  song,  has  set  the  purest  and 
strongest  example  in  this.  He  has  but  one 
source  of  inspiration  for  his  hymns  as  well  as 
for  his  psalms.  Many  of  them  are  so  immedi- 
ately founded  on  the  Scriptures,  that  the  very 
verse  or  passage  which  suggested  and  shaped 
them,  is  at  a  glance  detected.     His  hymns  have 


20  Christian  Hymnology. 

quite  as  much  of  inspired  truth  in  them  as  his 

psalms.   The  pulse  of  inspiration  beats  strongly 

in  them  all.     And  this  is  the  hiding  of  their 

power.     He  has  been  closely  followed  in  this 

by  every  hymn-writer  of  any  note.     "  The  most 

hearty  hymnology  of  any  age, —  that  to  which 

the   most   genuine   religious   life  will   always 

respond  feelingly,  and  which  in  return  will  be 

most   tonic   to  any  living   experience    in  the 

church,  —  must  be  that  which  is  most  intensely 

pervaded  with  Biblical  thought."     The  reason 

is  simply  this,  that  only  so  will  there  be  most 

unction  from  the  Holy  One  in  the  hymn.     In 

so  far  as  any  hymn-book  contains  in  its  hymns 

the  living  Word  of  God,  it  contains  the  spirit 

of  God.    It  is  not  inspired,  but  it  has  the  Spirit 

of  inspiration  in  it  and  which  exhales  from  it. 

"  Replete  with  Scriptural  thought,  radiant  with 

Scriptural  imagery,  and  fragrant  with  Scriptural 

devotion,"  it,  by  manifestation  of  the  truth,  must 

commend  itself  to   every  man's  conscience  in 

the  sight  of  God. 

Gathering  substance  from  the  Word  of  God, 
hymns  should,  in  the  next  place,  take  form 
and  shape  from  God's  laws  as  these  are  ex- 
pressed in  the  structure  of  the  mind.  These 
are,  plainly,  that  they  should  have  lyrical  ex- 
cellence, should  be  poetic.  He  has  so  con- 
stituted the  soul  of  man  that  hymns  having 
high    merit    as    lyrical    poetry   affect  it  most 


Lyrical  Element  Essential  21 

powerfully.  He  has  conformed  the  struc- 
ture of  inspired  psalms  to  this  law  of  mind. 
They  are  inspired  poetry.  A  hymn -writer 
must  have  the  lyrical  mind  and  gift  in  order  to 
be  a  true  hymnologist.  The  same  truths  that 
are  expressed  in  the  twenty-third  Psalm  are 
contained  in  a  thousand  tracts  and  sermons ; 
but  what  soul  is  so  untutored  that  it  would  not 
feel  the  difference  between  Watts's  beautiful 
version  of  that  psalm,  and  the  prose  of  the 
sermon  or  the  tract  ?  Thousands  of  so-called 
hymns  have  died,  and  hundreds  more  ought  to 
die,  because  they  are  simply  rhymed  prose. 
God's  pattern  is  shown  us  in  the  holy  mount 
of  inspired  psalmody,  where  Siloa's  brook 
flowed  fast  by  the  oracle  of  God.  He  has  by 
laws  of  mind  illustrated  in  inspired  poetry,  and 
by  the  earnest  verdict  of  Christian  experience, 
taught  us  that  the  hymn  to  be  a  true  hymn 
must  be  lyrical,  —  must  have  in  it  a  charm  and 
flavor  of  poetic  excellence.  It  is  not  God's 
design  that  we  should  sing  prose  in  rhyme. 
Dr.  Watts  has  recorded  of  himself,  M  It  was 
not  my  design  to  exalt  myself  to  the  rank  and 
place  of  poets  ;  but  I  was  ambitious  to  be  a 
servant  to  the  churches,  and  a  helper  to  the 
joy  of  the  meanest  Christian."  But  the  excel- 
lence of  his  service  to  the  churches,  and  his 
timely  help  to  many  a  poor  soul  struggling  for 
light  and  life,  are  found  in  this  —  that  he  brought 


22  Christian  Hymnology. 

to  the  structure  of  his  hymns  lyrical  fire,  lyr- 
ical skill,  lyrical  taste.  He  caught  his  inspira- 
tion from  the  psalmody  of  David.  The  lyrical 
form  is  in  its  sphere,  as  imperative  as  the  Bib- 
lical substance  of  the  hymn  is  in  its  sphere. 
It  is  another  characteristic  of  true  hymnology, 
that  it  gives '  expression  to  a  various  and  deep 
Christian  experience.  It  has  been  admirably 
said,  "  that  the  ideal  of  a  perfect  hymn-book 
is  that  of  a  perfect  expression  of  the  real  life 
of  the  church  in  forms  perfectly  adjusted  to 
the  service  of  song.  Every  true  hymn  is  a 
psalm  of  life  ;  some  soul  has  lived  it."  For 
on  this  depends  its  power  to  stir  kindred  emo- 
tions. Hundreds  of  hymns  have  been  written 
and  have  found  their  way  into  collections, 
which  cannot  answer  to  this  test.  They  touch 
only  the  surface  of  Christian  feeling,  and  can 
by  no  possibility  penetrate  into  the  depths  of 
true  religious  emotion.  They  are  as  much 
lacking  in  this  element,  as  in  the  lyrical.  They 
can  be  read  or  sung  in  no  other  than  a  mechan- 
ical way.  If  they  express  no  deep  life,  how  can 
they  awaken  any.  "  Like  begets  like,"  is  as  true 
for  hymns  as  for  nature.  They  put  into  the  lips 
of  a  Christian  manhood  or  womanhood  what 
are  the  expressions  of  the  merest  Christian 
infancy,  and  so  violate  the  Scriptural  injunction 
that  we  put  away  childish  things.  It  is  the 
test  to  which  we  may  safely  put  any  hymn  that 


The  Expression  of  Christ 'ian  Life.       23 

we  crave  it  or  that  we  reject  it  in  our  hours  of 
deepest  Christian  experience.  It  is  as  impos- 
sible for  a  superficial  hymn  to  touch  the  soul 
to  its  best  devotion,  as  for  a  thin  and  poor  har- 
mony in  music  to  stir  the  soul  of  one  who  loves 
the  concord  of  sweet  sounds.  It  is  as  impos- 
sible for  a  true  hymn  to  help  finding  responses 
in  the  Christian  soul,  through  its  expression 
of  deep  Christian  feeling,  as  for  one  ^olian 
harp  to  help  responding  to  another  by  its  side 
when  its  strings  are  swept  by  airs  from  heaven. 
No  soul  that  has  known  any  of  the  deeper  ex- 
periences of  the  throne  of  grace,  any  of  the  hid- 
den blessedness  of  communion  with  God,  but 
will  pass  instantly  by  all  superficial  hymns  on 
this  subject,  to  find  in  Charlotte  Elliott's  hymn 
on  the  hour  of  prayer  an  instant  and  joyful 
echo.  And  this  Christian  experience,  expressed 
in  hymns  should  be  as  varied  as  it  is  deep.  It 
sweeps  through  a  vast  scale  of  degrees.  From 
dejection  to  rapture,  from  the  agony  of  struggle 
to  the  triumph  of  victory,  from  penitence  to  ado- 
ration, from  submission  to  aspiration,  in  activ- 
ity and  in  meditation,  in  sickness  and  health, 
in  view  of  death,  in  the  very  last  hours  of  life, 
in  view  of  heaven,  at  the  Lord's  table,  in  social 
worship,  in  rooms  of  sickness,  at  the  fireside,  in 
the  solitude  of  personal  approaches  to  God,  in 
all  these  seasons,  under  all  these  circumstances, 
some  new  chord  of  Christian  experience  must 


24  Christian  Hymnology. 

be  struck,  and  the  hymns  express  it  in  full  clear 
voice.  Hence,  every  hymn-book  must  be  largely 
historic,  and  have  in  it  the  hymns  of  the  ages. 
The  hymns  of  the  ancient  Church  are  marked 
by  an  intensity  of  devotion  to  the  person  of 
Christ,  and  by  the  deepest  expression  of  the 
individuality  of  the  relation  between  the  Re- 
deemer and  his  disciples.  Each  age  has  its  own 
peculiar  expression  for  its  hymns.  And  the 
true  hymnology  gathers  it  all  up  and  conducts 
its  worshippers  in  song  over  all  the  varied  rich- 
ness of  its  sweet  and  strong  emotions. 

And  still  another  characteristic  of  a  true  hym- 
nology is  that  it  be  Catholic  in  its  type.  It  is  said 
of  Dr.  Watts  that  this  spirit  of  Christian  unity 
was  so  strong  that  he  had  hung  on  the  walls  of 
his  study,  side  by  side,  portraits  of  the  emi- 
nent saints  in  widely  different  communions. 
Luther  and  Bellarmine,  Calvin  and  Arminius, 
Leighton  and  Bunyan.  Protestant  and  Roman- 
ist, Predestinarian  and  Anti-Predestinarian, 
Dissenter  and  Churchman,  looked  down  on 
him  while  he  wrote  hymns  for  them  all  to 
unite  in  singing.  It  was  the  same  spirit  which 
led  him  to  wish  that  the  pall-bearers  at  his 
funeral  should  represent  men  of  differing  faiths. 
Christian  song  refuses  to  be  polemic.  Polemic 
hymns,  hymns  which  set  in  rhyme  the  differ- 
ences of  Christians,  die  by  a  sure  and  speedy 


Catholicity  of  Hymns.  25 

death.  Hymns  cannot  be  arguments.  It 
crushes  the  life  out  of  hymns  to  put  them  into 
the  logical  processes  necessary  to  teach  the 
distinctive  sectarian  peculiarities.  On  what- 
ever else  Christians  differ,  they  must  agree  in 
the  hymns  they  sing.  If  we  may  not  enter 
each  other's  pulpits,  or  sit  down  at  each  other's 
communion  tables  ;  if  we  may  not  say  our  pray- 
ers in  the  same  forms,  or  baptize  in  the  same 
modes,  when  we  come  to  the  service  of  song 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord  there  is  unavoidable 
unity.  The  whole  Church  sings  the  same 
hymns,  in  great  part.  Translated  from  one 
tongue  to  another  tongue,  all  sing  the  "  Gloria 
in  Excelsis,"  and  "  There  is  a  Fountain  filled 
with  blood,"  and  "  O  for  a  closer  walk  with  God." 
God  has  ordained  this  bond  of  Christian  unity 
in  the  hymns  of  the  Church,  and  it  cannot  be 
broken. 

It  was  needful  to  examine  the  development 
and  true  structure  of  our  hymnology  before  we 
could  fully  appreciate  the  uses  of  our  Christian 
hymnology.  Its  chief  purpose  is  to  evoke,  or 
to  aid  in  evoking  the  most  spiritual  and  deep- 
est worship  of  God.  It  has  any  fitness  to  do 
this  just  in  so  far  as  it  embodies  Biblical  truth, 
—  and  Biblical  truth  in  forms  which  have  come 
right  up  out  of  the  heart  of  a  deep  Christian 
experience.  \Y hen,  however,  the  hymns  of  the 
Church    have   transmuted    into    lyrical    forms 


26  Christian  Hymnology. 

these  mighty  truths  of  Christianity,  and  have 
been  the  voices  in  which  saints  of  the  Lord  in 
their  most  elevated  spiritual  states  have  seen 
them,  and  felt  them,  and  sung  them,  then  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  a  fit  instrument  for  calling  out 
the  most  exalted  worship  of  God.  For  God  has 
made  the  soul  of  man  so  as  to  be  moved  by 
poetic  forms.  The  rudest  tribe  of  men  has 
yet  its  bards.  God  has  made  the  soul  of  man 
so  as  to  be  moved  by  the  concord  of  sweet 
sounds.  He  who  made  the  ear  and  the  laws 
of  sound,  He  surely  contemplated  the  highest 
sphere  and  use  for  which  in  their  mutual  rela- 
tions these  were  ordained.  Did  He  make  the 
human  eye  for  anything  less  than  that  it  should 
see  his  power  and  his  wisdom,  and  worship 
Him  in  its  seeing  ?  Did  He  make  the  human 
ear  for  anything  less  than  that  through  it  should 
be  poured  into  the  spiritual  heart  some  soul- 
moving  strains  to  his  praise  ?  The  Spirit  of 
God  uses  the  laws  of  mind,  as  well  as  the  truth 
of  God  in  converting  a  sinner  to  Christ.  The 
self-same  spirit  uses  the  laws  of  the  soul  and  the 
truth  in  hymns,  to  evoke,  or  aid  in  evoking  his 
purest,  deepest  worship.  "  How  did  I  weep  in 
thy  hymns  and  canticles,  touched  to  the  quick 
by  the  voices  of  thy  sweet  attuned  Church  ! 
The  voices  flowed  into  my  ears,  and  the  truth 
distilled  into  my  heart,  whence  the  affections  of 
my  devotion  overflowed,  and   tears  ran  down, 


Influence  on  Public  Worship.  27 

and  happy  was  I  therein,  the  brethren  zealously 
joining  with  harmony  of  voice  and  hearts." 
St.  Augustine  has  in  these  words  embodied  the 
whole  philosophy  of  Christian  praise. 

A  choice  hymn  is  an  adoring  presentation 
of  truth.  It  is  a  direct  appeal  to  the  deepest 
and  tenderest  Christian  sensibilities.  Many 
hymns  are  prayers,  breathing  the  very  closest 
communion  with  God.  They  have  in  them  the 
very  life-blood  of  Christian  worship.  It  is  im- 
possible, utterly  impossible,  for  any  soul  to  use 
them  in  any  spirituality  of  mind  and  not  have 
its  affections  drawn  up  and  drawn  out  and 
offered  devoutly  to  God.  We  talk  of  winged 
words.  No  words  are  so  winged  as  those  of  a 
hymn  which  takes  the  affection  of  a  renewed 
soul,  and  soars  away  on  strong  pinions  up  to 
the  very  throne  of  God,  around  which  those 
redeemed  from  the  earth  are  singing  the  "  new  " 
song. 

But  the  use  of  hymns  as  worship  is  seen 
again  in  their  reflex  influence  on  all  the  other 
parts  of  worship.  Suppose  on  any  Sabbath 
morning  the  version  of  Watts,  — 

"  Great  God  indulge  my  humble  claim,"  l  — 

has  been  the  opening  service  of  song,  and 
that  as  it  has  moved  from  stanza  to  stanza,  the 
affections  of  the  heart  have  flowed  along  and 
with  its  words.     The  soul  has  claimed  in  hu- 

1  Sacrifice  of  Praise,  No.  229. 


28  Christian  Hymnology. 

mility,  but  with  fervor,  God  as  its  hope,  its  joy, 
its  rest.  In  faith  it  has  appropriated  the  glories 
that  compose  the  name  of  God,  as  covenanted 
to  the  believer  to  make  him  blest.  It  has  joy- 
fully recognized  its  relation  to  God,  as  a  son 
and  a  servant  bought  with  blood.  It  has 
breathed  out  longings  for  God  intense  as  the 
thirst  of  panting  harts.  It  has  avowed  its  de- 
light in  the  sanctuary  with  its  communion  of 
saints.  It  has  ended  its  psalm  with  the  most 
solemn  of  personal  consecrations  to  God,  — 

"  I'll  lift  my  hands,  I'll  raise  my  voice, 

While  I  have  breath  to  pray  or  praise  ; 
This  work  shall  make  my  heart  rejoice, 
And  spend  the  remnant  of  my  days." 

If  the  affections  of  the  soul  have  been  moved 
in  the  sacred  channels  of  this  psalm,  how  can 
it  be  otherwise  than  that  the  reading  of  God's 
Word  shall  fall  upon  an  open  heart,  an  active 
conscience,  and  an  obedient  will  ?  What  could 
so  well  prepare  the  soul  for  prayer  to  God  as 
this  calming,  composing,  yet  quickening  power 
of  sacred  song.  The  best  possible  preparation 
for  supplication  is  a  choice  hymn,  or  psalm,  or 
chant  devoutly  sung  by  God's  people.  More 
than  anything  else  it  will  banish  intruding 
worldly  thoughts,  and  lift  the  soul  out  of  its 
dull  round  of  earthly  care.  As  the  harp  of 
David  charmed  away  the  evil  spirit  of  Saul,  so 
it  will  again  charm  away  the  thought  of  world- 


Influence  on  Private  Devotion.  29 

ly  pride,  or  passion,  or  business,  or  anxiety. 
And  what  is  true  for  one  part  of  God's  pub- 
lic worship,  is  true  for  all.  Preaching  depends 
much  for  its  power  on  the  singing  of  hymns. 
The  effect  of  many  a  sermon  has  been  lost 
because  the  heart  lost  its  preparation  for  the 
truth  in  the  worship  of  song.  And  as  one 
hymn  devoutly  sung  but  inflames  the  heart  to 
higher  strains  of  praise,  the  whole  service  from 
beginning  to  end  is  the  richer  or  the  poorer,  as 
the  hymns  of  worship  have  been  sung  listlessly 
or  earnestly,  formally  or  spiritually,  with  glad- 
ness or  with  dullness. 

But  the  hymnology  of  the  church  has  other 
uses  than  those  involved  in  public  worship.  It 
has  a  use  in  the  homes  of  the  people  as  well 
as  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord.  Our  favorite 
hymns  are  our  companions  in  the  hours  of  pri- 
vate devotion.  They,  in  the  solitary  reading  of 
them,  compose  our  minds  to  communion  with 
God  and  elicit  our  tenderest  emotions.  That 
Christian  has  something  yet  to  learn  of  what 
his  private  devotions  may  be  made  to  him  for 
comfort  and  strength,  who  has  not  learned  how 
to  use  his  hymn-book  in  such  seasons.  He  can 
never  fail  to  find  some  hymn  which  will  exactly 
match  his  mood  of  spirit.  Has  some  great 
mercy  filled  his  cup  to  overflowing  ?  Let  him 
read  that  psalm  of  Watts,  — 

"  What  shall  I  render  to  the  Lord.  " 


30  Christian  Hymnology. 

Has  some  great  solicitude  burdened  his  soul 
till  life  has  become  a  weary  load  ?  Let  him 
read  that  choicest  of  hymns  on  submission  to 
God,  found  in  our  collection  beginning,  — 

"  Hast  thou  within  a  care  so  deep." 1 

In  hours  of  sickness,  detention  from  the  sanctu- 
ary through  long  years  of  a  weary  invalidism, 
it  may  be,  in  old  age,  when  death  draws 
nigh,  —  nay  in  the  wakeful  hours  of  night 
which  so  often  befall  many  of  us,  the  Christian 
heart  can  do  no  better  than  to  recall  the  hymns 
of  the  church.  It  would  be  a  most  instructive 
service  just  to  hear,  if  we  could  gather  up  the 
knowledge,  what  this  private  reading  of  hymns 
has  done  for  human  souls.  Dr.  James  Hamil- 
ton, in  his  "  Lectures  on  Hymns,"  states  that 
the  conversion  of  Dr.  Leifchild  was  effected 
through  the  reading  of  one  of  Wesley's  hymns. 
After  days  of  darkness  and  struggle,  —  if  I  may 
be  pardoned  the  personal  allusion,  —  the  light 
broke  in  for  me  in  reading  the  version  of 
Watts,  "  Show  pity,  Lord ;  O  Lord,  forgive." 
And  I  never  hear  the  psalm  read  without  living 
over  again  the  joy  and  freedom  of  that  first 
deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin  and  death. 
This  fact  of  personal  history  makes  me  earnest 
in  the  conviction  that  Christians  should  use 
the  hymn-book  in  the  home,  at  the  family  altar, 
in  the  hour  of  secret  prayer.     No  hymn-book 

1  Sacrifice  of  Praise,  No.  388. 


Memorizing  Hymns.  31 

is  properly  constructed  which  omits  this  as  one 
of  its  aims,  to  be  a  companion  for  the  mercy- 
seat.     It   is  most  gratifying  to   know  from  a 
wide  and  growing  testimony,  that  this  feature 
of  our  own  book  has  been  warmly  commended. 
The  aim  is  subsidiary,  but  subsidiary  aims  are 
important   and  essential  aims.     One  star  dif- 
fereth  from  another  star  in  glory,  but  the  differ- 
ence is  only  of  degree.    The  end  in  all  uses  of 
hymns    is    worship ;   but  the    heart    of   every 
Christian  is  a  temple  of  God's  Spirit,  and  on 
its  altar,  in  the  closet  of  private  devotion,  he 
has  need  to  lay  his  choicest  sacrifices  of  praise. 
The  use  here  advocated  will  indeed  largely 
depend  on  the  memorizing  of  hymns.     How 
was  it  that  our  Lord  and   his  disciples  were 
able  to  sing  the  psalms  they  sang  at  the  first 
communion  ?     There  were  no  hymn-books  in 
those  days,  and  no  Bibles  in  circulation.     The 
psalms  must  have  been  learned  by  heart.     It 
is  a  welcome  picture  for  us   to  draw,  —  that 
of  Christ's  mother  teaching  him  these  psalms 
sung  at  the  Passover  festival  by  every  house- 
hold.    What  an  attractive  picture  it  gives  us 
of  this  paschal  feast ;  so  many  households  all 
celebrating    it    in    the    voices    of   holy   song. 
Yes,   learn   the  hymns  by  heart.     Some  day 
there  shall    come  —  it  may  not   be  far  off  — 
a  time  of  sickness,  when   an  enfeebled  mind 
in  an  enfeebled  body  will  long  for  some  ex- 


32  Christian  Hymnology. 

pression  of  its  faith  arid  love,  which  it  cannot 
frame  for  itself.  Teach  children  the  hymns 
of  the  church,  at  home,  in  Sunday-schools. 
Teach  them  by  singing  them.  In  these  days 
when  a  flood  of  the  weakest  and  flattest  evan- 
gelical jingle  is  let  in  upon  our  Sunday- 
schools,  teach  them  the  best  and  choicest  of 
the  whole.1  A  classic  hymn  is  marked  first  of 
all  by  simplicity  of  structure  and  diction.  Its 
simplicity  fits  it  for  childhood  to  learn,  and  for 
childhood  to  sing.  I  have  somewhere  heard  it 
said  of  Mr.  Webster,  that  nothing  would  stir 
his  interest  more  quickly  than  the  hymns  of 
Watts,  taught  him  in  childhood  by  his  mother ; 
and  that  he  never  failed  to  pay  a  grateful  trib- 
ute to  the  hymns  he  learned,  and  her  whose  wise 
care  of  piety  taught  them.  This  becomes  the 
more  important  when  it  is  remembered  how 
much  of  the  service  of  the  sanctuary  shoots 
over  the  heads  of  children.  Prayer  and  ser- 
mon alike,  —  too  often  it  may  be,  and  yet  by  a 
necessity  which  the  pulpit  does  not  create  nor 
entail.  The  more  reason  then  that  the  chil- 
dren find  their  portion  in  the  Word  of  the 
Lord  and  in  the  hymns  of  the  church. 

It  is  another  and  most  commanding  use  of 
Christian  hymnology  that  it  is  a  conservator 
of  true  and  fundamental  Christian   doctrine. 

1  One  child's  hymn-book  teaches  the  little  ones  to  sing,  "  I  want  to 
be  an  angel."  Soon  another  is  published,  which  teaches  them  to  sing, 
"  I  would  not  be  an  angel."     This  is  confusing,  to  say  the  least. 


Conservative  of  True  Doctrine.  33 

There  can  be  no  good  hymnology  except  such 
as  is  founded  on  the  essential  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity. There  must  be  a  sound  theology  in 
hymns,  because  they  must  breathe  the  mind  of 
Christ.  They  do  not  teach  theology  as  a  sys- 
tem, but  they  do  teach  it  as  a  life.  They  hold 
it  in  solution,  as  clear  waters  hold  the  crystal- 
line and  precious  salts.  They  indoctrinate  the 
mind  through  the  affections,  — and  that  truth 
is  longest  held  and  best  appreciated,  which  is 
clung  to  as  a  conviction,  by  the  tendrils  of  the 
heart.  The  early  heresiarchs  well  understood 
this.  Gnostics,  Arians,  and  Apollinarians,  all 
employed  religious  poetry  and  music  as  a  pop- 
ular means  of  commending  and  propagating 
their  errors.  Many  of  the  Fathers  advocated 
the  use  of  a  Christian  hymnology  to  subvert 
the  false  doctrine  and  inculcate  the  true.  So 
thought  Chrysostom  and  Gregory.  So  thought 
Ambrose  and  Augustine.  It  is  easy  to  discern 
in  the  deep-toned,  unhesitating  ascription  of 
divine  honors  to  Christ,  which  the  "  Gloria  in 
Excelsis  "  and  the  "  Te  Deum"  embody  so  ma- 
jestically, what  a  safeguard  against  Arianism 
they  were  and  are  and  ever  shall  be.  In  the 
year  1524  Luther  wrote  to  his  friend  Spalatin 
the  following  words :  "  I  propose,  after  the  ex- 
ample of  the  prophets  and  the  early  Fathers  of 
the  Church,  to  write  for  the  people  some  Ger- 
man psalms  or  spiritual  songs,  so  that  by  the 
3 


34  Christian  Hymnology. 

help  of  song  the  Word  of  God  may  abide 
among  them."  A  Roman  Catholic  hymn-writer 
in  England,1  has  published  a  small  collection 
of  hymns  inculcating  the  praises  of  the  Virgin 
and  the  intercession  of  the  saints,  with  a  pref- 
ace in  which  he  says,  the  hymns  of  Watts  and 
Wesley,  by  their  indoctrinating  power,  have 
suggested  this  as  a  necessity  of  the  times  for 
Romanists  if  they  are  to  hold  their  faith.  The 
catechism  and  the  hymn-book  go  together  in 
religious  education.  The  one  gives  truth  in  its 
clear-cut,  terse,  definite,  systematic  forms,  and 
makes  its  appeal  to  the  illumined  understand- 
ing ;  the  other  gives  its  truths  in  melodious, 
experimental,  artless  statements,  and  makes  its 
appeal  to  the  illumined  heart.  Cowper's  hymn, 
"  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood,"  is  an 
answer  to  the  question  in  the  catechism,  "  How 
are  we  made  partakers  of  the  redemption  pur- 
chased by  Christ  ?  "  Toplady's  hymn,  "  Rock 
of  ages  cleft  for  me,"  is  an  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion, "  Is  any  man  able  perfectly  to  keep  the 
commandments  of  God  ?  "  Charlotte  Elliott's 
hymn,  "  Just  as  I  am,"  is  an  answer  to  the 
question,  "  What  is  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  ?  " 
Cowper's  hymn  on  the  Scriptures,  "  The  Spirit 
breathes  upon  the  word,"  is  an  answer  to  the 
question,  "  How  is  the  word  made  effectual  to 
salvation  ? "  Long  as  the  church  shall  sing 
such  hymns  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 

1  Faber. 


Guiding  Principles.  35 

against  the  truth.  If  the  songs  of  a  people 
shall  be  the  guardian  of  popular  liberties,— and 
beyond  all  doubt  they  are,  —  the  songs  of  the 
church  shall  be  its  guardian  of  a  sound  faith. 
These  sweet-voiced  teachers  of  a  true  theology 
will  insinuate  the  truth  into  the  hearts  of  men. 
The  fact  is,  that  seeing  this,  modern  skepti- 
cism has  already  begun  to  send  its  shafts  at 
hymns  and  hymn-writers.  "  Watts,"  so  it  utters 
its  dictum,  "wrote  love  songs,  and  Cowper  was 
insane,  and  Wesley  was  a  mere  enthusiast." 
They  may  well  dread  these  more  even  than 
defenses  of  the  faith  in  forms  of  Evidences  of 
Christianity. 

One  topic  more  remains  for  our  discussion. 
It  is  the  principles  which  should  guide  the 
church  in  its  use  of  hymns. 

First,  and  most  evidently  and  most  earnestly, 
let  her  insist  on  using  in  her  worship  only  the 
best.  "  Pure  oil  olive  beaten  for  the  light," 
was  the  only  oil  for  the  lighting  of  the  ancient 
sanctuary.  The  epithet  "  beaten,"  here  indi- 
cates that  it  was  oil  obtained  from  olives 
pounded  in  a  mortar,  not  pressed  in  an  oil- 
mill,  and  so  free  from  the  sediment  and  dregs 
which  the  oil  of  the  mill  generally  contained. 
The  victims  offered  in  ancient  sacrifice  were  to 
be  without  blemish  and  without  spot.  The  prin- 
ciples underlying  these  directions  of  an  ancient 
ritual  are  of  perpetual  force.     They  apply  to 


36  Christian  Hymnology. 

the  prayers  as  well  as  to  the  oil ;  to  the  hymns 
as  well  as  to  the  sacrifices.     Nothing  but  the 
best   for  the    Lord's  worship    in    everything. 
There  are  many  cases  in  which   spirit  is   not 
independent  of  form,  and  the  hymn  is  one  of 
them.     It  is  self-evident  that  a  more  perfect 
hymn  is  better  fitted  to  evoke  worship  than  a 
less  perfect  hymn.     It  is  matter  of  experience, 
that  mediocre  and  weak  hymns  beget  listless- 
ness  in  the  service  of  song.     If  of  two  hymns 
expressing    the    same    emotions,  that  one  be 
chosen  by  the  leader  which   is  less  rich  in  its 
expression,  less    vigorous,    less    lyrical    in  its 
structure,  just  in  so  far  has  he  thrown  a  check 
on  the  outflow  of  Christian  feeling.  The  people 
asked  of  him  bread,  and  he  gave  them  a  stone. 
And  if  some  hymns  were  given  out  which  are 
to  be  found  in  some  collections,  when  the  peo- 
ple asked  for  a  fish,  there  would  be  given  a 
scorpion,  stinging  a   pure  taste  to    its   bitter 
wounding.       The   classical    hymns,  the  best 
hymns,  the  hymns  which  have  the  most  Bible 
in  them,  and  are  fragrant  with  richest  Christian 
experience,  are  few,  compared  with  the   multi- 
tudes that  have  been  written.     Some  hymns  of 
eminent  hymn-writers  are  far  from  meeting  the 
high  demands  in  a  true  hymn,  worthy  to  be 
associated  with  an  inspired  psalmody.    Watts 
wrote  hundreds  which  must  needs  be  forgot- 
ten.    But  the  hymns  of  the  best  class  cover  a 


Choice  Hymns  few  in  Number.         37 

very  wide  field.  They  answer  all  legitimate 
demands.  They  give  the  soul  all  the  vari- 
ety it  needs.  They  supply  a  worship  of  song 
which  compasses  the  whole  circle  of  religious 
feeling.  There  is,  then,  no  reason  for  having 
any  but  the  best.  It  is  to  be  feared  that 
too  many  hymn-books  have  been  made  with 
the  market  as  well  as  the  church  in  view. 
They  are  wares  to  sell,  catering  to  the  popular 
taste,  rather  than  standards  of  worship,  edu- 
cating that  taste  up  to  higher  and  nobler  ex- 
pression. It  is  the  opinion  of  those  who  have 
most  carefully  studied  the  whole  field  of  hym- 
nology,  that  thirteen  hundred  or  even  one 
thousand  first-class  English  hymns  cannot  be 
found.  They  are  not  in  being.  Any  congre- 
gation which  uses  a  book  or  wants  a  book  with 
as  many  hymns  in  it,  will  use  or  want  to  use 
five  or  six  hundred  mediocre  hymns,  feeble 
hymns,  prosing  hymns,  debilitating,  with  a 
cheap  rhyme,  the  high  themes  they  teach.  It 
is  the  duty  of  those  who  have  anything  to  do 
with  sacred  song,  to  educate  the  Christian 
popular  heart  in  the  very  best  and  highest 
forms  of  devotional  experience.  Educate  any 
people  in  such  a  standard  of  hymns,  and  it  will 
turn  away  from  what  is  irreverent  in  praying, 
sensational  and  meretricious  in  preaching.  It 
will  demand  richness,  a  complete  and  profound 
evangelical  fullness  in  the  whole  worship  of  the 


38  Christian  Hyrnnology. 

sanctuary.  It  will  be  led  to  see  the  reverence 
and  the  humility  and  the  high  emotional  tone 
in  which  all  worship  should  be  rendered.  The 
key-note  of  worship  is  not  seldom  found  in 
the  hymns  a  people  are  accustomed  to  use. 

Another  principle  which  should  guide  the 
church  in  its  use  of  hymns,  is  that  it  should 
be  with  some  knowledge  of  their  history.  The 
Spirit  of  inspiration  has  seen  fit  to  associate 
with  many  of  David's  psalms  the  peculiar  emer- 
gencies of  his  history.  We  read  over  one,  as 
its  heading,  "  A  psalm  of  David  when  he  fled 
from  Absalom  his  son ;  "  over  another,  "  The 
Shiggaion  of  David  which  he  sung  unto  the 
Lord  concerning  the  words  of  Cush,  the  Ben- 
jamite  ; "  over  another,  "  A  psalm  of  David 
when  Nathan  the  prophet  came  unto  him." 
If  we  have  failed  to  read  the  psalms  in  the 
light  of  these  headings  we  have  failed  to  ap- 
preciate either  their  beauty  or  their  force.  So 
hymns  have  a  history.  They  are  many  of 
them  the  product  of  most  peculiar  circum- 
stances. They  took  their  rise  in  very  marked 
hours  of  personal  history.  The  melancholy 
of  Cowper,  the  invalidism  of  Miss  Anne 
Steele ;  the  strong  polemical  character  of 
Toplady;  the  blindness  of  Blacklock,  whose 
hymn  in  our  collection  (No.  55)  seems  to  come 
from  one  who  had  eyes  to  gaze  far  into  the 
hidden  depths  of  the  blue  empyrean  above  us; 


History  of  Hymns.  39 

the  personal  histories  of  all  hymn  -  writers, 
should  be  most  deeply  studied  if  we  would 
have  their  hymns  affect  us  most  profoundly. 
With  many  hymns,  a  peculiar  history  all  their 
own  is  blended.  Lyte's  hymn,  "  Abide  with 
me,"  written  after  administering  the  Lord's 
Supper  to  his  congregation  at  Lower  Brixham, 
Devon,  and  presented  to  a  relative  just  before 
retiring  to  rest  for  the  night,  and  just,  too,  be- 
fore departing  for  Nice,  where  he  died  and  was 
buried,  has  such  a  history.  Baxter's  hymn, 
"  Lord  it  belongs  not  to  my  care,"  is  evidently 
the  outpouring  of  a  soul  buffeted  for  its  faith  ; 
it  suggests  to  us  his  persecution  under  the  in- 
famous Jeffries  ;  and  when  one  is  told  that  his 
"  wife  in  her  former  sickness  subscribed  her 
name  to  the  hymn  with  a  cheerful  will,  as  to 
a  personal  covenant,"  it  seems  to  be  hallowed 
by  saintly  memories  whose  sacred  power  we 
must  feel.  The  fact  that  such  an  awakening 
to  the  history  of  hymns  has  taken  place,  is 
proof  enough  of  its  value.  It  is  a  subject  on 
which  knowledge  will  kindle  devotion. 

Finally,  they  should  be  used  congregationally. 
The  reasons  for  insisting  on  congregational 
singing  are  few  and  simple,  but  they  are  incon- 
trovertible. 

1  st.  Only  by  such  a  service  of  song  can  we 
imitate  the  example  of  our  Lord  and  his 
Apostles. 


4-0  Christian  Hymnology, 

2d.  The  best  and  largest  part  of  our  churches 
calls  for  it.  If  this  part  desires  to  sing  the 
praise  of  God  with  its  own  lips,  it  is  arbitrary 
and  unjust  to  deprive  it  of  the  privilege,  that 
the  tastes  of  the  few  may  be  gratified  by  choir- 
performances.  Not  only  so,  but  if  it  is  de- 
barred the  privilege,  what  becomes  of  the 
spirituality  in  the  worship  of  song  ? 

3d.  The  evidence  is  abundant  that  spiritual 
life  is  evoked  from  our  hymnology  only  so  far 
as  it  is  personally  appropriated  to  the  spiritual 
wants  of  the  individual  Christian. 

4th.  In  the  times  of  highest  and  purest 
spiritual  activity,  the  Church  of  Christ  has 
always  demanded  congregational  singing.  Re- 
vivals of  religion  tolerate  nothing  else.  But 
we  have  great  need  to  remember  that  con- 
gregational singing  is  not  something  which 
comes  of  itself  and  without  effort.  "  If,"  3  said 
John  Calvin,  "  the  singing  is  such  as  befits  the 
reverence  which  we  ought  to  feel  when  we  sing 
before  God  and  the  angels,  it  is  an  ornament 
which  bestows  grace  and  dignity  upon  our 
worship ;  and  it  is  an  excellent  method  of 
kindling  the  heart,  and  making  it  burn  with 
great  ardor  in  prayer.  But  we  must  at  all 
times  take  heed  lest  the  ear  should  be  more 
attentive  to  the  harmony  of  the  sound  than 
the  soul  to  the  hidden  meaning  of  the  words." 

1  Institutes,  ch.  xx. 


Congregational  Singing.  41 

So  profoundly  was  he  convinced  that  special 
pains    must  be    taken  in   order  to   secure  an 
effective  congregational  singing,  that  a  music 
teacher  was  secured,  paid  by  the  State,  who  gave 
lessons  three  times  a  week  to  several  choirs  of 
children.     They  seem  to  have  led  the  congre- 
gation   in   its  service  of  song,  after  a  careful 
training  for   the    purpose.      Calvin's    idea    of 
Church  music  was  exactly  that  of  Israel's  psalm- 
ist :  Both  young  me7i  and  maidens,  old  men  and 
children,  let  the??i  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
We  have  need  to  follow  closely  the  example  of 
our  great  leader,  in  the  cultivation  of  sacred 
song,  as  well  as  in  his  theology.    First,  the  ser- 
vice of  praise  must  be  exalted  as  a  part  of  wor- 
ship.    Then  the  fittest  mediums  of  song-wor- 
ship in  the  choicest  chants  and  hymns,  should 
be  furnished  the  people  of  God,  and  the  tame, 
mediocre,  insipid,  prosaic  rhymes  on  spiritual 
themes,  falsely  called  psalms  or  hymns  or  spirit- 
ual songs,  discarded.      And   then  by  a  direct 
education  of  the  people  in  singing  these  hymns 
to  suitable  tunes,  the  latent  capacities  for  con- 
gregational singing  in  our  churches  should  be 
called  out.     This  will  take  time  and  pains,  but 
it  is  well  worth  all  it  will  cost.     In  no  dim  or 
doubtful  sense  will  it  prove  true,  that  a  revival 
of  the  spirit  of  Christian  song  is  a  revival  of 
religion. 


